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    What Does Social Support Sound Like? Challenges and Opportunities for Using Passive Episodic Audio Collection to Assess the Social Environment.
    (Frontiers Media S.A., 2021-03-29) Poudyal A; van Heerden A; Hagaman A; Islam C; Thapa A; Maharjan SM; Byanjankar P; Kohrt BA; Kyriakopoulos M
    Background: The social environment, comprised of social support, social burden, and quality of interactions, influences a range of health outcomes, including mental health. Passive audio data collection on mobile phones (e.g., episodic recording of the auditory environment without requiring any active input from the phone user) enables new opportunities to understand the social environment. We evaluated the use of passive audio collection on mobile phones as a window into the social environment while conducting a study of mental health among adolescent and young mothers in Nepal. Methods: We enrolled 23 adolescent and young mothers who first participated in qualitative interviews to describe their social support and identify sounds potentially associated with that support. Then, episodic recordings were collected for 2 weeks from the mothers using an app to record 30 s of audio every 15 min from 4 A.M. to 9 P.M. Audio data were processed and classified using a pretrained model. Each classification category was accompanied by an estimated accuracy score. Manual validation of the machine-predicted speech and non-speech categories was done for accuracy. Results: In qualitative interviews, mothers described a range of positive and negative social interactions and the sounds that accompanied these. Potential positive sounds included adult speech and laughter, infant babbling and laughter, and sounds from baby toys. Sounds characterizing negative stimuli included yelling, crying, screaming by adults and crying by infants. Sounds associated with social isolation included silence and TV or radio noises. Speech comprised 43% of all passively recorded audio clips (n = 7,725). Manual validation showed a 23% false positive rate and 62% false-negative rate for speech, demonstrating potential underestimation of speech exposure. Other common sounds were music and vehicular noises. Conclusions: Passively capturing audio has the potential to improve understanding of the social environment. However, a pre-trained model had the limited accuracy for identifying speech and lacked categories allowing distinction between positive and negative social interactions. To improve the contribution of passive audio collection to understanding the social environment, future work should improve the accuracy of audio categorization, code for constellations of sounds, and combine audio with other smartphone data collection such as location and activity.
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    Reducing and removing barriers to spatial audio : applications of capital as a critical framework to promote inclusion in spatial audio : a thesis submitted to Massey University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in Music at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Austin-Stewart, Jesse
    The research within this thesis aims to address the question of whether barriers of capital to the field of spatial audio can be reduced or removed. Spatial audio is the musical utilization of space, where spatialization is the salient feature of the musical work. As a field, it primarily exists within academic and art institutions. Because of this, there are numerous barriers that prohibit people from engaging with the field. These barriers include significant technical requirements, the need for education, the expense of large spatial audio systems, amongst others. These barriers mean that those who are excluded have little to no pathway to engage with the field. This thesis explores the barriers in spatial audio through the lens of capital. Viewed as one’s level of resource, a lack of economic, social, symbolic, cultural, and physical capital can exclude many from engaging with spatial audio. The research within this thesis identifies barriers of capital that exist within the field through qualitative and quantitative survey analysis as well as literature review. The identified barriers are then addressed through practice-led and practice-based research with the creation of new spatial audio works and compositional strategies, alongside user surveys to ascertain the efficacy of the research.
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    Acoustic source localisation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mathematics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) White, Alexander Lyndon
    Many New Zealand native bird species are under threat, and as such conservationists are interested in obtaining accurate estimates of population density in order to closely monitor the changes in abundance of these species over time. One method of estimating the presence and abundance of birdlife in an area is using acoustic recorders; currently, omnidirectional microphones are used, which provide no estimate of the direction of arrival of the call. An estimate of the direction from which each sound came from would help to discern one individual calling multiple times, from multiple birds calling in succession - thus providing more accurate information to models of population density. The estimation of this direction-of-arrival (or DOA) for each source is known as acoustic source localisation, and is the subject of this work. This thesis contains a discussion and application of two families of algorithm for acoustic source localisation: those based on the Generalised Cross-Correlation (GCC) algorithm, which applies weightings to the calculation of the cross-correlation of two signals; and those based on the Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC) algorithm, which provides an estimate of source direction based on subspaces generated by the covariance matrix of the data. As the MUSIC algorithm was originally described for narrowband signals - an assumption not applicable to birdsong - we discuss several adaptations of MUSIC to the broadband scenario; one such adaptation requiring the use of polynomial matrices, which are described herein. An experiment was conducted during this work to determine the effect that the distance between the microphones in a microphone array has on the ability of that array to localise various acoustic signals, including the New Zealand native North Island Brown Kiwi, Apteryx mantelli. It was found that both GCC and MUSIC benefit from larger inter-array spacings, and that a variant of the MUSIC algorithm known as autofocusing MUSIC (or AF-MUSIC) provided the most precise DOA estimates. Though native birdlife was the motivator for the research, none of the methods described within this thesis are necessarily bound only to work on recordings of birdsong; indeed, any multichannel audio which satisfies the necessary assumptions for each algorithm would be suitable. As well as a description of the algorithms, an implementation of GCC, MUSIC, and AF-MUSIC was produced in the Python 3 programming language, and is available at https://github.com/alexW335/Locator.
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    Site into sound : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2017) Robertson, Jude
    Sound, space and perception are expansive areas of enquiry, which I connect together through a creative investigation into location, sensory experience and interrelationship within a wider ecosystem. Using an abstract mapping process, audio recordings have been gathered from three spatial/acoustic locations: liquid space, ground level and atmosphere. Many sites have been selected for their ecological or historical significance. Photography has also been utilised to form a multisensory and multi-disciplinary approach to research. Different cultural meanings of landscape have been considered, exploring how this has the potential to precipitate new relationships and a deeper understanding of ourselves, others and the environment. Since any direct experience that takes place within the environment occurs using my own bodily-sensory perceptions, this enquiry is viewed from a personal perspective that comes with a degree of subjectivity.
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    The perception of melodic closure : a study of the factors influencing final note choice to achieve melodic closure : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Applied Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1979) Mills, Bryce Andrew
    This study investigates the notion of closure put forward by gestalt theorists in reference to visual perception but applies it to aural perception of simple melodies. Specifically the study focusses on the final note chosen to effect melodic closure. It addresses the question of the selection of the final note and attempts to ascertain what major factors influence its selection. To achieve this, three basic groups of subjects were tested; (1) children, - two groups of 20 males and 20 females, one group 10 years old and the other 12 years old (2) 20 male and 20 female young adults, 18 - 20 years, and (3) 10 performing musicians with an expressed preference for traditional western classical music and 10 performing musicians with an expressed preference for jazz and non–conventional music. From the first two groups a random sample of 5 males and 5 females was extracted for alternative treatment and the application of the Witkin Embedded Figures test. The first two groups were presented with a recording of four simple melodies each played seven times providing a different final note. Twenty-eight items were therefore provided and subjects were required to indicate whether or not they felt satisfied with the melody as a completed entity. The group of trained musicians were given in conventional notation too first 1 1/4 bars of a simple melody and asked to complete it exercising their own choice as to contour and the instrument used. The random sample extracted from groups 1 and 2 were taught a simple unfinished melody on a metalophone and asked to provide two notes to complete it. They were also tested on the Witkin Embedded Figures Test to ascertain whether cognitive style was a relevant factor or not. The results presented show that subjects do have clear preferences for melodic closure. The tonic of the perceived key is significantly chosen to effect closure but the degree of preference is tune specific and influenced by melodic contour. The research also shows that closure choices are mediated by age, sex, and cognitive style, and the interaction of these factors. Design A provides clear evidence of mediation of closure by melodic contour while Design B demonstrates that the interaction of sex and cognitive style is a significant factor influencing melodic closure. A degree of conflict between results obtained in Design A and Design B suggests that the major factors influencing closure are tune specific. Design C demonstrates that there is a difference in the way musicians of different "styles" affect melodic closure. However the difference was the reverse of that expected - "Jazz" musicians showed greater preference for tonic closure than did "Traditional" musicians. This research demonstrates that people do have a definite preference to effect melodic closure with the tonic of the perceived key but this preference is not uniformly applied. It is affected by tune specific factors, as well as the subject factors of age, sex, cognitive style, and the interaction of all four factors.
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    Natural sounds : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2004) Liu, Shiquan Michael
    Natural sounds, as one of the most important resources of nature, have attracted attention from many researchers. Although, psychological approaches, acoustical approaches and psychoacoustical approaches have been employed on the research of natural sounds, not many analytical investigations have been conducted on specific natural sounds except for the biological natural sounds. The aim of this study is to present the properties and reveal the generation mechanisms of the selected natural sounds. This thesis concentrated on studying the characteristics of various specific natural sounds by acoustical approach. Field recording has been mainly adopted for the collection of sound samples. For the selected samples, computational analyses were conducted to investigate the attributes of the sounds. Sound signatures including waveform, frequency spectrum and sonogram were displayed to visualize the analyzed signals. The generation mechanisms were reviewed and discussed to reveal the variables that contribute to the sound characteristics. Sound samples including cavity wind sound, aeolian sound, wind sound through vegetation, thunder clap, thunder rumble, thunder crack, plunging breaker sound, spilling breaker sound, rock wave sound, boiling mud pot sound, geyser eruption sound, fumaroles eruption sound and different bubble sounds were selected and analyzed to reveal their properties.
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    Illusions of liveness : producer as composer : an exegesis submitted to Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Musical Arts In Composition
    (Massey University, 2013) Logan, Sam
    The practise of creating music for the recorded medium has been a fluid and constantly changing enterprise since its inception. Emergences of new studio technologies over the last fifty years have spurred new cultures, philosophies and approaches to music production and composition, ultimately seeing a merging of the once disparate roles of producer and composer. It is this contemporary, technology-informed new role of producer-composer that brings with it discussion - for much of which there is no general consensus - over issues pertaining to perceived liveness, the producer-composer’s control over the resulting sound, and most contentiously the use of music technology itself: its transparency and its legitimacy as substitutions for real instruments. These are all fluid and complex issues and this paper does not attempt to provide answers for, nor take a definitive stance on them other than in the sharing of opinions formed from my own experiences in applying production as composition to the creative aspect of this project. In this paper I seek to share some of the current discussion regarding production-as-composition, in light of my own compositional experiment, which strives to create a simulation of real-performance via almost entirely artificial means within an idealised, hyper-musical sonic environment. By bringing together real musicians and virtual instruments within a recorded track and edited via music production technology, the experiment aimed to produce an illusion of liveness.
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    Sound-as-art : the rise of the corporeal and noise in twentieth-century art practice
    (Massey University, 2012) Black, Chris
    This thesis explores the relationship between human corporeality, space, sound and noise in twentieth-century art. The thesis introduces some novel concepts, notably that corporeality, noise and the notion of an expanded field form the bedrock of contemporary sound-based art practice, or what the author refers to as sound-as-art. The terms Corporeal Sound Art and Non-Corporeal Sonic Art are introduced as a way to highlight the traditional distinction between corporeally inclusive sound art and corporeally exclusive acousmatic music. Ultimately, this thesis extols extramusical elements in the realization of sound-based artwork and champions human corporeality and noise as central concerns for sound artists and sonic artists in our current age of digital mediatization.
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    Diffusion evolved : new musical interfaces applied to diffusion performance : an exegesis submitted to the New Zealand School of Music in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of the Musical Arts in Composition
    (Massey University, 2013) Johnson, Bridget Dougherty
    This exegesis takes a critical look at the performance paradigm of sound diffusion. In making a shift away from the sixty-year-old practice of performing on a mixing desk or other fader bank console, it proposes and outlines a goal towards intuitive and transparent relationships between performance gesture and spatial trajectories. This is achieved by a coupling of the two previously segmented fields within electroacoustic: spatialisation and interface design. This research explains how connections between the two fields and an embracing of contemporary technological developments, with a goal toward increasing the liveness and gestural input that currently limit sound diffusion practice, could extend the art form into a virtuosic and compelling gestural performance art. The exegesis introduces and describes the author’s research and development of tactile.space, a new multitouch tool developed on the Bricktable for live sound diffusion. tactile.space is intended as a contribution to the growing research area of user interfaces developed specifically for the performance of sound in space. It affords performers a new level of gestural interaction with the space of the concert hall and the audience members and redefines multiple standardised interactions between the performer and the space, the gesture, the audience, and the sound in a diffusion concert.
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    Internal landscapes : pain and trauma injury through the lens of subjective experience : an exegesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2013) Sainsbury, Maria
    My body resonates pain. Lying here, it’s like static on a radio infuriatingly monotonous and irritating in its regularity. Stabbing, burning, aching, it’s a constant vibration of stimulation. So wearying trying to stay on top of it. I’m waiting for the drugs to bring some relief so I can get on with the day. (This extract is taken from my diary before my third spinal surgery.) This thesis project was motivated by my subjective experience of constant pain over nearly a decade. Repeated spinal surgeries culminated in the implantation of rods and screws after a trauma accident. Through the process of research about pain I have recognised that its lack of an external referent makes it difficult to comprehend pain without visual trauma. The difficulty is that the pain experience is internal and not truly capable of being shared. Pain is multidimensional and includes many factors such as physical, mental, social and cultural environments that vary with individual circumstance. I haven’t presented my experience as a narrative but it does assist contextualising the works. I consider a multi discliplined approach to this project may help resonate this experience more articulately. I suggest that my subjective experience of pain manifests in an abstract form within my body. I seek to extrapolate traces of my interior experience by exploring a metaphorical and abstracted vocabulary of sound, sculpture and photography. I have referenced various theorists such as Elaine Scarry, Arne Vetleson and Amelia Jones. Similarly researching Artists from Modern and Contemporary fields such as Josek Sudek, Bob Flanagan, Hannah Wilke and Mona Hatoum. These theorists and artists are working or have worked with themes of pain, trauma and subjectivity. Further to this I have presented research papers at the Massey University Post Graduate Symposium 2012, Occulus - Canterbury University Post Graduate Symposium 2012, Art Association of Australia and New Zealand Annual Conference 2011 and the Zonta Organisation, Mana Chapter 2011. There is no definitive language that can accurately transcribe my subjective experience but I argue parts might be conveyed through a contemporary art project and those parts may ultimately be understood.